Oil prices below $58 on Nigeria concern

Oil steadied today after sliding below $58 as Nigerian crude production increased.

Oil steadied today after sliding below $58 as Nigerian crude production increased.

US light crude for December delivery was up 2 cents at $57.90 a barrel earlier this morning after falling 83 cents yesterday to take losses for the week to nearly 5 per cent. London Brent crude traded five cents up at $57.92 a barrel.

Royal Dutch Shell said yesterday it resumed production of about 47,000 barrels per day (bpd) at two of its flow stations in Nigeria. One flow station remained shut after attacks, while Chevron reopened its facility earlier this week.

The extra supplies helped traders shrug off larger-than-expected falls in US fuel inventories last week, given stocks are still above last year's levels heading into peak winter demand.

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Traders are waiting to see if Opec producers, including Nigeria, will adhere to an agreement to cut by 1.2 million bpd starting from November.

Despite the Opec cutbacks, oil prices are down 26 per cent from a record high in mid-July after an investor sell-off.

Supply from non-Opec producer Russia also fell for the second month in a row in October to 9.71 million bpd, government data showed yesterday.